


Parenting

by thunderlilly



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Ichigo confuses Kisuke, Kisuke adopts Ichigo, Kisuke gives Ichigo the creeps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26532967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderlilly/pseuds/thunderlilly
Summary: “Urahara Kisuke,” he says and holds out his hand for Ichigo to shake. He takes it courtly and makes sure to grip extra tight, lest the guy try anything funny.  Sadly, Urahara doesn’t flinch, just raises his eyebrow and looks at Ichigo like he is an insect that he’d like to dissect.And then, to top it all off, he says, “Would you like some candy, Ichigo?”And yeah, that’s just about it.
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo & the twins, Urahara Kisuke & Kurosaki Ichigo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 120





	Parenting

Ichigo doesn’t really have anyone taking care of him. He has the twins, of course, but they’re still so _tiny_ and _he_ is their big brother so it’s his job to protect them and Isshin hadn’t been much of a father to Ichigo even before mama died (had been killed, _because of Ichigo_ ).

So the situation at home isn’t bad, per say, but it isn’t particularly good, either. At least Ichigo knows for certain that Isshin would never touch the girls, even if he doesn’t seem to have any such qualms regarding Ichigo.

Still, Ichigo finds that it’s the reason he’d rather spend the whole day wandering outside than in the vicinity of his father’s fists. He wanders the streets aimlessly, following the sunlight and birds and his instincts.

The thing is, he still can’t really distinguish between the people who are alive and those who aren’t (even though he really, really should be by now, should have been able to do that before one of the _bad_ dead things took his mama away from him).

So it doesn’t do more than mildly surprise him when he looks up suddenly and realises that he is standing in front of a shoten, in an apparently rather secluded area of town. Ichigo has always loved that, no matter how small Karakura Town seemed, still, whenever he gets to wandering around after a few hours of standing on that river bank he finds himself in a new part of town, a new place to discover. But this time he could swear that he hasn’t taken an unknown route, in fact, Ichigo is pretty sure that he’d been walking in the direction of the clinic (not home, not anymore, not after the heart of his _home_ had been taken away by that _thing_ ).

There’s a tree at the edge of the shoten’s front yard and he hesitates in its shadow for a moment, wondering, if the shop is just new. But the sign over its entrance (cheerfully promising him candy in more flavours than he’s ever tasted) doesn’t look new at all, dust already long settled into the cracks in the wood. Distantly, he remembers his mama’s warnings about strangers promising him sweets and he knows, objectively, that a candy shop is an altogether different thing than a strange man with a baseball cap and a van, but the memory is still enough to make him turn around.

Just as he’s about to take his first step back towards the main road the door slides open. Ichigo glances over his shoulder and locks eyes with a man dressed completely in green and the most ridiculous hat Ichigo has ever seen.

For a second they just stare at each other and the man in hat and cloaks looks equally as dumbfounded to see Ichigo standing in his front yard as Ichigo is to be there. Then, with a tiny straightening of his shoulders, the man plasters a (false, wide, patronising) smile on his face and raises his hand in a cheerful wave.

“Why, hello there,” he says as he takes a leisurely step towards him.

Ichigo watches him warily but when he doesn’t make to run away, the man continues his stroll towards him, smile never wavering from his face.

“And who might you be?” He asks in that annoying tone that adults tend to use with children and people they think are stupid. Ichigo also kind of wants to punch him in the face for crouching down to his level where he’s come to a stop in front of him. But his mama had always told him how important good manners are, and those manners include to not just walk away from a person without acknowledging them first and especially not once they’ve started talking to you and to not just ignore their stupid questions or yelling at them for asking their stupid questions in the first place.

So.

“Ichigo,” he says and then, after the man only hums in acknowledgement, “Who’re you?”

The man blinks at him, as if no one’s ever asked him for his name before, but his smile doesn’t falter.

“Urahara Kisuke,” he says and holds out his hand for Ichigo to shake. He takes it courtly and makes sure to grip extra tight, lest the guy try anything funny.Sadly, Urahara doesn’t flinch, just raises his eyebrow and looks at Ichigo like he is an insect that he’d like to dissect.

And then, to top it all off, he says, “Would you like some candy, Ichigo?”

And yeah, that’s just about it.

Ichigo is tired (he doesn’t usually get much sleep anymore since his idiot father has decided to regularly wake him up in the middle of the night with a dropkick to the face) and hungry (because the money he’s been able to weasel out of Isshin the day before yesterday hadn’t been enough for him _and_ the twins and he knows where his priorities lie) and he has absolutely neither the time nor the patience to deal with some perverted creep in a candy shop ( _of all the things!_ ).

So, he rips his hand back and tucks his elbows close to his body, feet grounded and shoulders squared. He isn’t even trying to make his defensive stand look like anything other than what it is.

He’s learned since his mama died, practiced in the mornings before breakfast and in the evenings after dinner and at night when the nightmares won’t let him sleep in peace. He had to stop going to the dojo between food expenses, school supplies, Isshin‘s alcohol habit and the clinic being closed for over a year now, there just wasn’t enough money. But, Ichigo supposes, it doesn’t matter either way, before he left, Tatsuki had been the only person at the dojo that he hadn’t managed to beat (although, at times, he isn’t even sure if _anyone_ can beat Tatsuki. That girl is a monster and even though Ichigo has now beaten just about everyone else at the dojo -not including the occasional trouble-seeking high school student - he has no hopes of beating her anytime soon. Even _sensei_ seemed scared of her, at times), but even so, he _has_ gotten a lot stronger.

Urahara blinks again and cocks his head ( _still_ smiling, like Ichigo is a puppy performing a curious performance and not even registering as a threat), but before he can say anything else (something like, “ _yeah, don’t worry, it’s right in this van. No it’s not a problem at all, why don’t you just get in while I get some for you?_ ”) Ichigo pushes his foot into the ground and raises the other one in a sharp kick the man’s groin.

It’s like kicking a brick wall, he feels the impact up to his hip and can’t quite suppress his wince.

Urahara doesn’t even flinch.

So Ichigo does the only sensible thing he can think of in that moment and draws back for an upper cut (not learned at the dojo, but he’s seen and felt it more than once from his father and perfected it in his now semi-regular street brawls) but the guy simply dodges the hit just a millisecond before it connects, so close that Ichigo swears he can feel the stubble on his chin right as it’s pulled away.

He _still_ hasn’t stopped smiling, but at least he takes a few steps back to give Ichigo some space.

(He also pulls his eyebrows down in a semi-frown which, combined with his ever cheerful expression makes him look like even more of dolt than he did before).

They muster each other for a few tense seconds, Urahara - seemingly completely at ease, shoulders relaxed and his arms held loosely at his sides - and Ichigo the exact opposite, hands fisted and muscles tensed. For a few horrible breaths it feels like a fight is imminent.

Any second now one of them is gonna pounce.

Urahara dips his head so that its shadow covers his eyes and chuckles (and it takes all of Ichigo’s willpower to just stay put even as every single one of his senses screams at him to _get the fuck out of there!_ ).

“Don’t you know that it’s rude to just hit people out of the blue? Especially since I offered you candy, I thought children liked those? And I don’t just give them away for free to everyone, you know, that would be a terrible way to lead a business.”

For a few dumbfounded moments staring at the absolute shithead in front of him is all Ichigo can do as he rambles on, then he gives himself a mental shake. This is it, he decides. Ichigo is gonna get the hell away from this guy and take the fastest route back to the clinic (because he’s pretty sure that Isshin would never let a creep like that close to the twins, if he were to follow Ichigo home, even if he would never care enough to protect Ichigo the same way and there’s no shame in using that to his advantage in a situation like this). And then he’s never _ever_ coming back to this place.

“Don’t talk to me about rude, ya creep!” He snaps. “I’m not the one trying to lure children into his creepy candy dungeon! What kind of freak do you have to do that, huh?”

Finally, _finally_ Urahara’s stupid smile slips right off his face (with a speed that would make Ichigo feel very satisfied under any other circumstances), but he doesn’t dwell on it, even when the shopkeeper pales curiously and then grows a sickly green colour.

“Ah, no, it’s not like that at all, Ichigo-kun!” He stutters, waving his hands hectically. “I was _really_ just—”

But Ichigo has had enough bullshit from this man and it’s not like he’s scared or anything, but he’s definitely uncomfortable and he should have left _ages ago_.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever, just leave me the hell alone!”

And with that he turns courtly, watching his own shadow before him tensely for any sign of another one joining it. It doesn’t and Ichigo doesn’t turn around even when he rounds the corner. He has no idea where he is right now, but he doesn’t hesitate, choosing which direction to go on the run at each new corner and trusting his instincts to take him back to somewhere he can (even just faintly) recognise.

It only takes him 10 minutes of walking through an area of empty warehouses and wide, fenced yards, before he, seemingly from one second to the next, is standing in the middle of a bustling street - no sign of strange candy shops and stranger candy shop owners in sight.

——

Kisuke feels kind of bad for scaring the kid like he had.

It hadn’t been his intention, mind you. At all. But it’s been a _long_ while since he’s had any contact to people that aren’t Tessai or Yoruichi or the Visoreds (and even Kensei’s brat isn’t really a kid anymore). Let alone an actual _child_! Kami, what had he been thinking, talking to the boy? It would have been easy enough to disappear in a flit of shunpo before he’d be seen. Or he could’ve just nodded at Ichigo and then left him to continue going to wherever it was he’d been off to.

Or he could’ve just closed the blasted door again, damnit.

But, he had been so curious (and he still hates himself for even thinking that, because all his explanations as for why he should not have done this or that stupid thing always tend to start with this sentence, _to date_ , even the very reason for why he and the others are hiding out in the world of the living).

Still. It is what it is and he _had_ been. Curious, that is. And of course he’d known the child’s name even before he had answered, even before he’d actually _seen_ the boy. But the thing is…

The thing is that Kisuke never expected Ichigo to _see him_ , too. Not yet, at least.Because Kisuke hadn’t just not been wearing his gigai - he almost never does anymore, the Visoreds can see him just fine and his shop is so remote from the rest of the town and so securely hidden behind dozens of kido spells and illusions that in the last hundred years only three people had found their way there and had found it empty.

So, yes, when Kurosaki Ichigo, son of Shiba Isshin and Kurosaki Masaki had wandered right into his front yard and then proceeded to study the sign over the entrance like he could _see_ it - which he could, because he could talk to Kisuke as well, could _hear_ him, too - Kisuke had been curious. Sue him.

But, still, he didn’t mean to scare the kid so much (and now that he thought about it, he really could have expressed himself in a less … pathetic way, but again: no talking to strangers in a century).

Anyway, he supposes it’s water under the bridge now. It’s not like he’s gonna see Ichigo again anytime soon - not for at least half a decade or so - and the boy is just nine (almost ten) but children’s minds are fickle things, aren’t they? (He’s pretty sure he’s read that somewhere). Ichigo is probably not gonna remember Kisuke the next time they see each other and then Kisuke can train him and then Shinji can train him and then he will beat Aizen and everyone can happily skip home (and here he’s been thinking he couldn’t possibly hate himself anymore than he already does).

(He still feels proud, in a twisted, undeserved kind of way. Ichigo’s fighting instincts had been good, for someone his age, the kick had been expertly delivered and even the somewhat formless uppercut had shown strength and routine in his movements. Isshin was training him well.)

Kisuke hums as he closes the door to the shoten with a echoing clack and the strange, tight feeling in his gut loosens a tiny bit.

Ichigo will forget him and the next time they meet Kisuke will make him strong (will make him _mighty_ ) and then, afterwards, Kisuke will fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness he could never deserve in a thousand years.

After all, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, right?

Right.

——

Ichigo remembers this place. The first thing that comes to mind when he lifts his eyes off the ground is a resounding _fuck_.

Ichigo has wandered again, from the river bank down towards the market square and keeping left of the newspaper stand and then… well, actually he can’t remember which turns he took after that, but he hasn’t been walking for all that long, can’t have, because school ended at three and its barely five now (and he still has to go shopping for dinner and he is _tired_ because he _still_ hasn’t gotten a good night’s sleep).

He leans against the tree for just another second, watching the shoten’s doors closely, then he turns and leaves.

He feels watched while he walks through the area in which the warehouses are and he doesn’t break out in a jog, but he does walk a lot faster and far more alert than usual.

——

Ichigo does’t end up at the shoten when he pays attention. But it takes a lot of concentration and afterwards he always feels way more winded than he usually does after his walks, mind running in circles and flinching at every sound (he’s still missed Isshin’s fist to the stomach as he passed through the door, too busy counting his steps from the fence to the house).

The moment his attention slips, though, he’s right back to the shoten (even though he’s made sure to walk into the exact opposite direction of the newspaper stand, he’s been _careful_!). It happens two more times and he doesn’t see Urahara at either one, thank fuck.

He tries not strolling around after visiting the riverbank then not going to the riverbank at all, but after just three days he feels so so trapped inside his own skin that Yuzu asks him in a timid, hesitant voice, if everything is alright? If he’s had a row with one of his friends?

Ichigo doesn’t have friends. (But he doesn’t tell her that. He says _No, everything is fine. He just didn’t get enough sleep the last few nights and he’s sorry he’s been so on edge lately and he’s sure he’s gonna feel better tomorrow_ ).

Yuzu knows why he hasn’t been sleeping (both twins do it would be hard not to with the way Isshin always tends to break out into rambunctious laughter after he lands a kick). But she doesn't say anything (and Ichigo will always be so fervently thankful for that), just watches him with sad eyes and pushes some vegetables from her plate onto his (because she also knows that he isn’t eating when he doesn’t absolutely have to) and then slips from the kitchen before he can sneak them back onto her plate.

(She smiles when he brings in his plate a few minutes later and it’s empty and it eases some of the guilt inside him.)

——

The next day he visits the river bank after school again and then wanders, pointedly aimless, towards the sun.

He’s thought over it last night, weighing all the pros and cons of his current situation carefully, and he’s come to the conclusion that Urahara Kisuke is most likely not a threat. If anything, the man had looked almost as surprised at Ichigo had been to have landed in the shoten’s front yard and then just as sick at Ichigo's accusation.

He does own a candy shop, and wears wears weird and a creepy smile (and what kind of idiot thinks of a fan as a fashion accessoire anyways? What is he, like, a hundred years old?), but he doesn’t seem to own a van (not that Ichigo could see, anyways, and with that grotesque fashion sense of his Ichigo kind of thinks that Urahara would be more of a SMART person) and, altogether, doesn’t look to be a bad person.

(Now, he _had_ asked Ichigo if he wanted candy which, yeah, admittedly, would probably send alarm clocks ringing in _anyone’s_ head, but Ichigo hadn’t really felt anything particularly _malicous_ from him at any moment and he had made him pay for that question with a solid kick in the nuts (even though the shopkeeper hadn’t even batted an eye at that, a fact that is put solidly in the pro-creep column in Ichigo’s head) and it could, it _could just_ be that Urahara is truly too much of an idiot to notice the creepy vibe that _anyone_ would send with a question like that (additionally to exhibit A: he owns - unironically, presumably - a candy store in the middle of nowhere, where there are no paying customers in sight _anywhere_ ; exhibit B: the man seems to have no apparent knowledge in how to steer through any kind of social interaction). Still, Ichigo is feeling generous, and he doesn’t have a bad felling about the guy, so he decides to give him the benefit of the doubt and not try to beat him up next time he sees him or flee on sight.)

He feels very grown up when he goes to sleep, his mama always told him to weight his options carefully before deciding on a course of action and Ichigo has made a very long list with the few facts he has about Urahara. Mama would be proud.


End file.
